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Negative Energy Plane
NEGATIVE ENERGY PLANE It the blackest night. It is the heart of darkness. It is the hunger that devours souls. The Negative Energy Plane is a barren, empty place, a void without end, and a place of empty, endless night. Worse, it is a needy, greedy plane, sucking the life out of anything that is vulnerable. Heat, fire, and life itself are all drawn into the maw of this plane, which hungers for more. To the observer, there's little to see on the Negative Energy Plane. It is a dark, empty place, an eternal pit where a traveler can fall until the plane itself steals away all light and life. The Negative Energy Plane is the most hostile of the Inner Planes, and the most uncaring and intolerant of life. Only creatures invulnerable to its life-draining energies may survive there, and even they have problems as the negative energy tugs at them imploringly. Plane Traits Subjective Directional Gravity: Similar to the Elemental Plane of Air, on this plane each inhabitant decides his own “down.” Normal Time. Infinite Size. Alterable Morphic. Major Negative-Dominant: Areas within the plane have only the minor negative-dominant trait, and these islands tend to be inhabited. As an option for cosmologies where the Negative Energy Plane is more inhabited, make the minor negative-dominant trait the default, with pockets of major negative-dominant. Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities that use negative energy are maximized (as if the Maximize Spell feat had been used on them, but the spells don't require higher-level slots). Spells and spell-like abilities that are already maximized are unaffected by this benefit. Class abilities that use negative energy, such as rebuking and controlling undead, gain a +10 bonus on the roll to determine Hit Dice affected. Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities that use positive energy, including cure spells, are impeded. These spells and spell-like abilities can still be used, but a successful Spellcraft check (DC 15 + level of the spell) must be made to do so. Characters suffer a –10 penalty on Fortitude saving throws made to regain negative levels bestowed through energy drain while on this plane, though they may leave the Negative Energy Plane and make their Fortitude saves somewhere else. NEGATIVE INHABITANTS Like its positive energy twin, the Negative Energy Plane is relatively empty. It contains no true elemental forms or versions of Material Plane creatures, and its outsiders are few and far between. Unlike on the Positive Energy Plane, undead thrive in this dark place. The best-known outsider found on the Negative Energy plane is the xeg-yi. These alien, otherworldly creatures appear to be sentient, though their nature and purpose remain a mystery for many. Outsiders native to the Negative Energy Plane (including the xeg-yi) are immune to the detrimental effects typical of the plane. The Negative Energy Plane is a hospitable home for the undead, especially undead that drain life energies from their opponents. Wraiths, spectres, and wights are all common, and some powerful vampires and liches make their homes on the Negative Energy Plane as well. The only thing that limits such creatures is the availability of prey, so the undead may be on their way elsewhere when encountered. MOVEMENT AND COMBAT Movement on the Negative Energy Plane functions like it does on the Elemental Plane of Air and other subjective gravity planes. But flight that relies on wings or the presence of air does not function, though magical flight (such as a fly spell) does. A bird's wings have nothing to beat against on the Negative Energy Plane, for example, but a beholder's levitation abilities function normally). Even for a traveler who can move across this desolate, empty plane, the total darkness and lack of landmarks make this a perilous place to visit. The undead seem as clueless in this matter as other visitors from the Material Plane. If a powerful spellcaster can figure out how to deal with the xeg-yi, these energons can serve as guides. Negative Combat Because the Energy Planes have the no gravity trait, many assailants can attack a single target. (See the Combat in Three Dimensions sidebar in Chapter 1.) Combat is otherwise unaffected on the Negative Energy Plane. FEATURES OF THE NEGATIVE ENERGY PLANE The greatest immediate danger on the Negative Energy Plane is the plane itself—its brooding malevolence and soul-sucking nature are a threat to all who cross it. As with its positive twin, there is no air on the Negative Energy Plane. While the environment is not a true vacuum, suffocation is a great peril, and the lack of breathable air tends to keep living creatures away. Similarly, food and drink do not exist naturally on the Negative Energy Plane, so a traveler must bring supplies as well. The Negative Energy Plane preys on more than just light. It greedily sucks the energy out of anything that it can. Torches and lanterns last half the normal time. The durations of spells are unaffected, because the nature of the spell itself counteracts the entropic power of negative energy. Finally, a great danger of the plane is that while it has major negative-dominant and minor negative-dominant areas, the border between the two is indistinguishable. Worse, the border is flexible, and even a stationary traveler may find himself within an energy-draining major negative-dominant area. Spells such as negative energy protection can keep these perils at bay temporarily. The Negative Energy Plane is completely and totally black. Even if travelers bring their own light source, the inherent power of the plane drains the color from everything, leaving only gray tones lit by flickering light. Clear vision (including darkvision) is limited to 5 feet. Light sources beyond that range appear as indistinct bits of radiance glimmering faintly against the deepest night. Distance is impossible to gauge within this oppressive environment. Voidstone In some locations on the Negative Energy Plane, the collapsing intensity of the plane is so great that the negative energy folds in on itself, stabilizing into solid chunks of utterly black matter. These chunks of voidstone might be the building blocks of such items as the sphere of annihilation. Indeed, anything that comes into contact with a voidstone is instantly destroyed. Unlike with a sphere of annihilation, a character touching a piece of voidstone gets a Fortitude saving throw (DC 25) each round he stays in contact with it. Even natives of the Negative Energy Plane are vulnerable to voidstones. Also unlike a sphere of annihilation, chunks of voidstone cannot be controlled through mental energy. Voidstones may be of any size, ranging from inches across to dozens of feet. Doldrums Certain regions on the Negative Energy Plane are less deadly than others, reducing the negative-dominant trait from major to minor or even removing it entirely. These areas, called the doldrums, are relatively static on the plane, so towers, cities, and other structures can be built at their locations. The perils of such places are twofold. The most obvious threat is the hostile life (and unlife) in the area. A second threat is that the borders of a doldrums area may fail and the deadly tides of negative energy once again wash over the region. Necromancers in particular favor the doldrums for their lairs. Death Heart The best-known location within one of the major doldrums, Death Heart is an entire spired city constructed within a hollow metal sphere one mile in diameter that drifted in from some long-dead alternate Material Plane. While the exterior of the sphere has a minor negative-dominant trait, its interior is free of the baneful negative energy of the plane. That protection failed to save the city's inhabitants. The city was founded as an experimental utopian community. Originally called the Heart of the Void, it was designed by its mysterious masters to be a place untainted by other beings and schools of thought. In reality, it was quickly overrun by the undead, who feasted on the flesh and souls of the students within. Now its towers and plazas are empty except for the undead invaders. Here may be found all varieties of undead, including not only energy-draining creatures such as wraiths, wights, and spectres, but more mundane skeletons, zombies, and mummies. Several liches and powerful vampires claim this sphere as their home. Rumors carried by the mercanes state that usually the various evil factions within the Heart of the Void are engaged in perpetual war with one another. But now a particularly dangerous individual, a vampiric minotaur, has brokered peace among the factions and has encouraged further research into the nature of the city and the plane itself. The mercanes believe that the vampiric minotaur's eventual goal is to steer the city to another plane and use his undead minions to wreak havoc there. Castles Perilous Given the large number of undead creatures in residence on the Negative Energy Plane, there is less tendency to use the Negative Energy plane as a repository for evil prisoners and dangerous items. However, good-aligned prisoners and benevolent items are often imprisoned here, usually in towers of pitted iron with sealed gates. These prisons are well trapped and often heavily guarded. Some hold celestials or good-aligned artifacts not easily destroyed, while others contain paladins in stasis and other items and individuals baneful to the undead. The presence of these castles perilous is often a reason that Material Plane travelers (especially those of good alignment) come to this plane. NEGATIVE ENCOUNTERS The Negative Energy Plane is a generally empty place, hostile to the extreme. Few things are encountered here, and the chance of hitting them by blind chance is minimal. The Negative Energy Plane is considered slightly more deadly than the Positive Energy Plane because of the presence of undead creatures. More Negative energy, the plane described as Yin Chi, is of three parts: Darkness Unlife and Unmaking Darkness is the opposite of light, the and the oldest of the elements. The dark has many secrets: ancient, powerful, soul-blasting secrets. Some say the darkness contains all things in potential, everything that can be cloaked and hidden, murmuring and straining towards birth. When you can't see anything, anything can be. Pitiless, revealing light is the only limitation. By trying to reveal everything, light reveals nothing. By revealing nothing, darkness unveils all of the multiverse. Darkness crystalized and formed dry, sucking salt. It shifted painfully, spawning the draining ash. It crept and darted, spewing out harsh dust. It oozed and ate at the edges of existence, creating empty vacuum. Every day it pulls more of the multiverse back into itself. Someday all will return to the darkness, the only true eternal thing. Unlife is a powerful force, an undying hunger that fills what it touches with a ghoulish energy that is a mockery of true life. Its pawns, the undead, act as heralds of coming night. Vampires, spectres, nightshades and ghouls eternally fetch shares of life for their gluttonous master. Unmaking is the opposite of, and the inevitable reaction to, creation. It breaks down and simplifies all. Without it, the inhabited worlds would be filled with nothing but endlessly reproducing single-celled animacules. With the essential limitation Unmaking represents, Life has a reason to develop, a serpent's head for the tail to run from. Without the Unmaking the worlds would be a monotonous cycle of reproducing and suffocation. * * * * * * ********* * * * The second citidel of Boccob, the Oerthly god of magic, is, like its mates, shaped like a pyramid with even sides. It is utterly black, with enormous ripples of chill, greedy energy coursing along its height from tip to base and back again. There are no exits or entrances, and gaining admittance is a tricky endeavor. Occasionally, the possessor of something of interest or threat to the state of magic, like a powerful artifact or new school, will be invited in. In this case, safe transport will be provided from another plane. It is thought that the citidel can also be accessed from the Land of Black Ice on the world of Oerth, and the two sites might be related in some manner. The citidel is used as a base for the deployment of negative energies throughout the multiverse under Boccob's control. Specialized rilmani and stranger entities (mercane wizards, spellweavers, magitors, and elder negative quasielementals of each type) monitor the progress and conduct experiences under their god's authorization. Several such citidels exist. The third one is in the Positive energy plane, the fourth in the Hinterlands, and the location of the first is unknown. The Ring of Shadow On some worlds, Darkness and Shadow are considered to be identical or are strongly associated with one another. The Ring of Shadow is a reason why. The Ring of Shadow is an arm of the Demiplane of Shadow that entirely surrounds the Negative Energy Plane. Undead and worse inhabit this dark place, plotting the invasion and domination of one plane or another. The Ring of Shadow serves as the launching point for the hordes of darkness, the servants of Unlife. The Ring of Shadow seems to be void, like the plane of negative energy itself, and indeed it has the minor negative energy trait. But the invisible ground is solid enough for good roads to be built. Also on the plane are twisted alternate versions of Deathheart, the Fortress of the Soul, and the towers of the Doomguard, as well as shadowy fortresses unique to the realm. Those who walk far enough through the wild of Deep Shadow end up in the shadowy equivalents of other planes. Groups like the kalamein work to defeat those who would extend their roads this far, but as the shadowy legions gather it is unknown how long it can last. Enoch, City of the Manus Nigrum Many groups of refugees fled Baator in the aftermath of the Reckoning, when the entire hierarchy of the Hells was radically changed. The servants of those nobles who had been exiled occasionally managed to find positions in the new order, but often ended up fleeing to Gehenna, Acheron, and the wastes of Avernus with their masters. A group of former servants of Geryon and his nobles, calling itself the Tal'mahe'Ra, decided to leave the Outer Planes entirely and stake out a new existence elsewhere. They swore never to be scattered, as many of their spiritual kin from other circles of Hell had been, but to combine their strength to become a true power in the multiverse at large. Yet they quarreled. Two leaders developed in the Tal'mahe'Ra; one, an amnizu named Tal'ah'tep, believed it was best for them to conquer a kingdom on the material plane and interbreed with the natives, using their half-fiend children to manipulate affairs from behind the scenes. The erinyes Nigrum (sterile, as all erinyes are) disagreed vehemently, telling her followers that they must remain pure to be strong. She pointed to the Ring of Shadow, saying that the undead could make up their legions. The crafting of wraiths and spectres from lemures was a time-honored tradition in Baator, but Nigrum observed that once they had been made, the undead could replicate themselves. If the only problem was controlling them, surely the osyluths and erinyes could master that. Nigrum herself was a potent necromancer already, having sacrificed her innate powers to advance far in the Black Art. Tal'ah'tep was outraged. The path of Nigrum was foolish, he shouted before the gathered masses of osyluths and barbazu. The undead of the plane would rise and destroy them in order to set their brethren free. One need only look at the example of Heart of the Void, which had been conquered by those its creators sought to command. The protective shroud of Shadow would not be enough to save them, not in the Bottom of the Multiverse's very reflection. In the end, the Tal'mahe'Ra was split. One sect, calling itself the Western Masters of Dusk or the Manus Nigrum, went to the Ring of Shadow and founded a city there. They were mainly made up of sterile baatezu, who had no hope of commanding through their genetic offspring. The other sect, continuing to call themselves the Tal'mahe'Ra (or, occasionally, the Eastern Masters of Morning), went to the material plane in disguise and began to infiltrate the guilds of merchants, mercenaries, wizards, and thieves. The result was a terrible failure. Without the seductive abilities of the erinyes, the Masters of Morning were discovered and routed by human armies. Without the bulk of the infernal armies, the Masters of Dusk were unable to withstand the inevitable attack by the legions of Unlife. The survivors of both sects regrouped in the court of an elder vampire, and stated their case. The vampire, a former yuan-ti abomination who called himself the Nagaraja, informed the baatezu that if they were to have his aid, it would have to be under his supervision. He decreed that the plan must be in two steps: first they would gather undead legions in the Ring of Shadow, as Nigrum had suggested, and only when their power was sizeable there would the baatezu be permitted to create living servants on the material plane. That way those who could create offspring would only supplement the strength of the necromancers, and not replace it. Reluctantly, the Masters of Morning formally agreed to become but a part of the Manus Nigrum. Since the time of the split of the Tal'mahe'Ra into the East and West sects, the fabled city of Enoch has been in the Ring of Shadow. This is the place that the Manus Nigrum bring their victims and those lost and uncertain souls that they recruit. They, and their shadows, dwell here in a hollow mockery of the infernal plane they left behind. The siege of Enoch by beasts and creatures from the Negative Energy Plane occurred hundreds of years ago, and part of the reason for the sects rejoining into the Manus Nigrum was to take Enoch back. Strangely, when a sizable and ancient group of vampires came to Enoch, they found it empty and devoid of any life or unlife. Since then, the Nagaraja has been in charge of the recruitment and control of the vampire spawn, wraiths, and spectres that haunt the towers and citadels of Enoch. The successful defense of Enoch from a return of the creatures that occupied it depends on the cooperation of the undead that are native to the Ring of Shadow. The erinyes, who have taken to calling themselves the Black Hand to distinguish themselves from Enoch's other baatezu, get the first and best picks of the victims that make it through the rigorous training, for embrace into the Dark Trick and immortality as a spectre or wraith in the continued service of the defense of Enoch, or for the Black Hand's massive protection plots. Spinagons fly through the dark sky, bringing messages between the baatezu and undead. Many of the undead that have chosen to assist the Hand in their goals have otherworldly reasons. Many important tokens of their former lives are in the trusted care of the Hand, and placed in regions where their enemies can not harm them. For the continued safety of worldly goods, former possessions, haunts and loved ones, the wraiths of the Black Hand guard the walls of Enoch as the sentinels of a new age. With the city in safe, firm hands, the Tal'mahe'Ra have begun their game again at last. This time they have the aid of experienced erinyes and their undead servants in enforcing their whims, and with a base on another plane they are able to be much more cautious and subtle than before. Even if they do not succeed, and it looks as if they will, there is always Enoch. children of darkness and light In the Plane of Negative Energies, anubis the Eater lies eating. he stole this land from Set and Typhon and sleeps on a pile of corpses. He controls Negative Energy prevents all of the worlds from becoming overpopulated and covered in ickiness. Negative Energy is necessary, of course. The strings of Yin and Yang pull at one another in an eternal struggle. Yin Chi undead ecologies I love the name "chatterlings" on destruction Yin Chi on coolness The Negative Plane isn't icily cold, but it is draining. and femininity night goddess swallowing swallows the Void and the next level neg. energy and the salvation of worlds; Xeg-Yi A Chinese Portrait: A Natural Phenomenon Death A Metal Black adamantine. An Animal An owl. A color Dull black. A mythological Being The Grim Reaper A famous Human Being Dr. Jack Kevorkian A human activity Left-handed necromancy. A work of Art For it hath been shown unto thee in many other places how Death and Love be twins. Now art thou the hunter, and Death rideth beside thee with his horse and spear as thou chasest thy Will through the forests of Eternity, whose trees are the hair of Nuit thy mistress! -- Epistle of Baphomet. A weapon A vampiric touch. An object A noose. Xeg-Yi History: We simply don't know. The Xeg-yi and -ya are creatures of energy, but not personifications of it in the way an elemental is. They also don't seem to be as in love with or as even as aware of stories as a true spirit. Spiritual correspondences: None (they aren't spirits) Material correspondences: None Attitude: Perfectly neutral, and perfectly dangerous. Category:Inner Planes